• Setting the Adjustable Dampers
• Choosing the Right Size Blower
• Pit Probe Placement
• The Costa Rica Caldera
• Yogurt making with the DigiQ II

Clip pit probe to meat probe (recommended)

Place within the area shown to avoid contact with meat

There are several areas in your cooker to place the Pit probe for controlling the temperature of the cook. Keep in mind that stratifcation occurs inside all cookers unless there is a convection fan stirring air to help even the temperature throughout the cooker. By clipping the pit probe to to meat probe, you are controlling the heat closest the the meat you are cooking without worring about the probe touching another piece of meat.

Several years ago Shotgun Fred decided to take a vacation. He came to visit me in Costa Rica. Fred and I had not seen each other for many years and it was good to reunite. He was also a bearer of fine gifts. He had stowed in his luggage a brand new Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker and a BBQ Guru Pro Com 4. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. After all, I had spent the last four years cooking on a Webber Smokey Joe. The WSJ was about the finest grill in my neiborhood at the time, but was a far cry from the new WSM! We threw some chicken on the grill and had a case of beer delivered by the liquor store. For awhile, life was as good as it gets.

The next morning Shotgun was up before the parrots where singing country western music in Spanish. (In Georgia that would be before the rosters crow)

After a great breakfast of mango from the tree in the backyard, Shotgun was beside himself. He jumped up and said let's go out to your shop and build something! In a flash that would make Saint Nick proud, he was out the door. Before dinner he had constructed the Costa Rica fifty five gallon Caldera smoker.

This is one sweet cooker.

It is easy to make and all the materials are easy to come by anywhere in the world. It can be constructed for well under one hundred dollars. Couple it with a BBQ Guru Temperature controller and you have a smoker that will maintain temperature better than most household electric ovens, until it runs out of charcoal. That could be as long as 24 hours depending on the temperature settings and conditions.

This cooker is extremely simple. All you will need is a fifty five gallon barrel, steel rebar pipe or tube, expanded metal or mesh grates, electrical conduit, wood for the shelves and handle, a few fasteners, and a thirty gallon barrel or other suitable container for a fire box.

The fire box on the original was constructed from a thirty gallon barrel. We used only the bottom third of the barrel.

Six or eight bolts are drilled into the fire box to hold the expanded metal grate up off the bottom of the box allowing the air inducing tube to be fitted under the fire.

The air inducing tube is a piece of electrical conduit fitted with the standard metal pit adapter tube for the BBQ Guru Temperature control fan. The end of the tube is closed to make a press fit for the inducer's sleeve. On quarter inch holes are drilled in the tube to disperse the air flow evenly throughout the fire box.

Notice the firebox is assembled through the barrel. Push the tube all the way in butting the open end of the tube against the sidewall of the firebox.

The fire box size is not critical. The bigger the firebox the longer the cooker will maintain temperature without refueling. Keep in mind the amount of charcoal loaded will only determine the length of time the cooker will burn. We will control temperature with airflow. Airflow will be controlled precisely by the BBQ Guru Temperature controller.

Holes are cut into the sides of the barrel to accept the steel bars. These steel bars will support the cooking grates and the exterior wooden shelves.

The first cooking grate could be placed directly on top of the firebox. Normally two grates higher in the cooker. The grates could be grates form an old Webber cooker. On the original, the grates where cut from expanded metal.

The barrel lid was used as a pattern to mark the shape. Cutting was done with a four and one half inch grinder. The grates could be made with a hole in the middle to make it easier to add more fuel. With a little ingenuity racks could be fabricated for jerky, ribs or any other special purpose you can imagine.

The cooker lid handle was fabricated from a piece of wood, nuts, bolts and a couple pieces of tubing used as spacers. The complete assembly is hanging on the side of the barrel in the photo. A hook is attached under the lid to allow it to be hung on the rim of the barrel while the cooker is open.

The best barrels are the type with a removable rim. Save the hoop to seal the barrel while it is in storage. All the parts can be stored inside the barrel for transport. In third world countries like Costa Rica you could even throw the whole rig on the roof of the SUV and haul it to the beach for a cookout with the gang.

Notice the hoop around at the top to hold the lid on.

This rig will hold a lot of food. I have smoked as may as six turkeys at once with no problem. 

There are endless ways that this cooker could be improved on. A door that opens on the side would make it a lot easier to add charcoal. Doors would also allow the cook to add, remove and turn meats as desired during the cook. More racks could be added. Specialty racks for ribs, jerky or other meats could be fabricated. The list of possible modifications is endless. We encourage builders to innovate and hope to see this cooker evolve over time. Please send us some photos of your finished project so we can post them here on our website.

Yogurt making is an age old process used to preserve milk and the first step in the production of some cheeses.  The practice originated in Eastern Europe and Western Asia.  Today yogurt is produced commercially worldwide.  The production of yogurt is a simple process involving addition of L. bulgaricus and S. thermophilis to clean warm milk and then holding at the temperature between 108 and 112 degrees Fahrenheit.  Accurate temperature control is needed to insure yogurt making success.

There is a large selection of home yogurt makers on the market.  All should work well but most yogurt making appliances have very limited batch sizes.  Some people have had success using insulated boxes, household ovens, and even the stovetop.  All these methods will work as long as you can maintain the temperature between 108 and 112f.  With the DigiQII and a Power Raptor controlling the temperature becomes a snap.

The focus here is to explain how to use the DigiQII temperature controller to control your electric appliance accurately.  The DigiQII is a very versatile temperature control.  Originally the DigiQII was linked to a twelve volt fan and used to control a charcoal fire.  It can control power to any twelve volt fan or appliance.  Coupling the DigiQII with the proper “Power Raptor” switching relay it can control any common household kitchen appliance.  With the DigiQII and a Power Raptor the crock pot becomes a large capacity yogurt maker.

The set up is very easy.  Plug the fan terminal on the DigiQII into the power raptor.  Plug the crock pot or other appliance into the power raptor.  Connect both the DigiQII and the Power Raptor into appropriate electrical wall outlet.  The pit temperature probe is placed into the crock pot. 

We use the longer meat probe that comes with the DigiQII only because the metal sleeve is longer on it.  Make sure the tip of the probe is not touching the crock pot. If the probe tip is in contact with the inside of the pot you will likely be measuring the temperature of the pot and not the milk.  Turn the crock pot on high and set the temperature control to over 165 degrees.

Pour the milk into the crock pot.  I like to use a fresh sealed bottle of milk.  You can use any type of milk you like.

As it is in all home cooking and canning processes, cleanliness is important to this process.  In yogurt making cleanliness is especially important to prevent the growth of unfavorable bacteria.  Milk should be heated to over 165f for ten minutes at the beginning of the process.  This heating will kill any disease causing bacteria or mold spores that might be present in the milk.  All equipment that comes in contact also needs to be clean.  I like to put everything in the dishwasher and plan my yogurt making at the end of the cycle.  Washing everything on the hot cycle assures that all equipment is sanitary.  A large pot could be used to boil the equipment.  Some folks claim that just a good soap and water hand washing of the equipment is all that is needed.  In any case sanitary technique is important.

Chilling the milk quickly to the inoculation temperature minimizes the opportunity for other non-favorable bacteria to enter the process.   Yogurt cultures will grow between the temperatures of about 100 and 130f but they thrive when the temperature is between 108 and 112f.  Above this temperature the culture will slow reproduction dramatically or will be killed completely.  Below this temperature range the growth will slow dramatically or the culture will become dormant. Keep this in mind when you add the culture to the milk.  Temperature control here is very important.

Active yogurt cultures can be acquired in several different ways.    Many people use a commercial yogurt from the grocery store and others use yogurt from a previous batch of homemade yogurt.  If you use the commercial yogurt I prefer to use plain avoiding the sugars and other additives that might be in flavored yogurt.  Packets of yogurt cultures can be purchased from most health food stores.  There are pros and cons with any of these methods but success can be achieved with all. The most important thing is to be sure that the culture you use is fresh.  Scoop out one cup of milk after it has cooled to well below 130 degrees.  Add either the contents of the packet, a few spoonfuls of commercial yogurt or some yogurt from a previous batch of home made yogurt to the cup.  This is the inoculation mixture.

Pour the inoculation mix into the milk.  It is very important the temperature of the milk is well below 130 degrees and above 100 degrees.  For best results keep the temperature between 108 and 112 degrees.  At this temperature the culture grows well disease causing bacteria cannot invade the mixture. If the temperature is higher it will kill your culture and whatever you end up with will not be yogurt!  Cover the pot and maintain this temperature until the yogurt has the consistency you like.  This could be between four and twenty four hours.  The time will vary depending upon the size of the inoculation culture, temperature, and lactose content of the milk and or the freshness (vitality) of the culture used.  Any one or combination of these factors will increase time to complete the process.

Once the yogurt has the consistency you desire it can be packaged.   I personally like to use old quart size commercial yogurt containers.  Any glass jar or disposable plastic container may be used as long as it is clean.   After the yogurt is packed it should be stored in the refrigerator.  It will thicken as it is chilled.  Letting the yogurt sit undisturbed will make it thicker.

Any sweetener can be used in yogurt.  Sugar and honey are the most popular but fructose or artificial sweeteners can also be used.  The natural sugars contained in fresh fruit make a great sweetener.  Wash the fruit well, chop it up and toss it in. Some fruits do well when pressed or puréed to free up the sugars. The high acid content of the yogurt will naturally preserve the fruit to some extent.

Nuts and grains can be a treat in yogurt.  Granola, almond, pecans and walnuts are wonderful in yogurt.  Once you find a mix you like it can also be put into the ice cream freezer and it becomes frozen yogurt.  This is a lot like ice cream but much easier to digest.

Lactose is a sugar that is present in milk.  Some people do not produce the enzyme needed to digest lactose after childhood.  This produces the condition known as lactose intolerance.   The bacterial cultures used in yogurt making consume lactose and break it down into simpler sugars that the body can digest.  For this reason the lactose intolerant person can often consume yogurt but not the milk it was made from.

In a healthy human natural flora exist in the digestive tract.  These bacteria enhance the immune system and actually produce some vitamins needed in the body.  The same bacteria also play a role in cleaning and elimination within the colon. The presences of these bacteria help to defend the body from invasions of other disease causing bacteria. Often a prescribed round of oral antibiotics will leave the body completely void of all bacteria.  This bacteria free state of the body leaves the body vulnerable to invasion of bacteria that can cause disease.  Consuming yogurt containing active cultures will help in the repopulation of the colon with beneficial bacteria.  This pro biotic action of yogurt exists only when the yogurt consumed has active living cultures.

If you look on the internet you will find a lot of conflicting information on yogurt making.  Some manufactures of yogurt making equipment claim all you need to do is mix a little left over yogurt together with cold milk, pour it into their appliance and you’re done in four hours! Do not be alarmed if you have seen other temperatures, recipes or culture sources on line.  If you do it like we explain here it will work.  If you like to experiment feel free to do so.

The DigiQII coupled with a “Power Raptor” relay is very versatile.  This simple inexpensive combination can be used to control temperature on virtually any electric home appliance.  Using an electric griddle, a steam table tray, Power Raptor and DigiQII together in the same fashion creates a sous vide cooking system.

In sous vide cooking the food is seasoned and prepped before sealing it in a vacuumed plastic bag.  The entire package can be frozen and then later cooked in a temperature controlled water bath.  This cooking method is taking the restaurant business by storm.  It allows the portions to be split from bulk and cooked individually.  Results are very reproducible.  This process is slowly catching on in home kitchens.  One of the things holding it back in the home kitchens is the price of the cooking unit.  Prices start at over $800 and can be twice that price.  With a DigiQII you can set up the entire package for a fraction of that cost.

Please do not forget the original use for the DigiQII.  This device will control any air tight charcoal cooker to within five degrees of the set temperature until it runs out of charcoal.  This makes temperature control on those long slow cooks a snap.  The BBQ pros love it.  Just look around at any BBQ cook off competition and you will see DigiQII units hanging on many of the cookers.  It’s not rare to see the BBQGURU.COM banner flying in the camp of the grand champion!